'Alcatraz Sharfest Swim' as filmed by 'Team Hydro!'

I was sent this YouTube this morning by a friend of mine who recognized me. I don't how they did, I look like a penguin like everybody else

Every year, 1,000 San Francisco swimmers participate in SHARKFEST: Escape from the Rock. They take a ferry to Alcatraz, jump off and then race back to shore. The water is cold and full of sharks and sea lions...but amazingly everyone makes it back to shore!

This is the story of Team Hydro, a group who swims Sharkfest to raise money for the non-profit Hydrocephalus Association - a relatively unknown disease that affects over one million Americans.

[Link]

Ironically enough I am actually in the video doing butterfly at the 11-second mark. When I jump off the boat the water is so cold and hurts so bad I do butterflyfly so my face goes in the water for the fast shock and then out of the water till I finally get use to it.

Another Alcatraz swimmer dies! :-[

From the SF Gate: "...At age 63, Phillip Coulston had made it to within 100 yards of the shore after swimming nearly all the 1.5 mile triathlon leg from Alcatraz to San Francisco on Sunday, authorities said. ..." [Link]
This really sucks for the family; I wish he never swam it.

I have swam from Alcatraz Island to Aquatic park 5-times this decade while competing in the Alcatraz Sharkfest Swim. It's the hardest open water race I have ever done. Why people pick this race as their first ever open water race astonishes me. I blame the "Dog Swims Alcatraz Channel" or the "7-Year-Old Swims Alcatraz Channel" articles as the reason why people think it's a "cakewalk."

It's not the distances that's hard, it's the concentration, and the prediction as to how to work the tide. For newbies, swim to the left. For veteran's swim for the left wall at the entrance to Aquatic Park. Also; before you even get there, swim a 1500 LCM in a masters swim meet so you can practice a pace you can maintain in race conditions.

Dave Horning makes it clear in the Alcatraz Sharkfest home page that: "...This swim is not for novices. This event is for experienced open-water swimmers only. You should be able to swim one-mile comfortably in a pool in under 40 minutes...."

Even still, people are not getting it for we have had two Alcatraz deaths in one year. In fact, my friend Scott, who volunteers himself as a rescue kayaker assists at least 5 swimmers a year. Some of his stories are extraordinary. Like the swimmer who was just three hundred yards away from the finish but was to frightened to go on. Or the newbie who jumps off the boat, hits the icy water, floats to the top and sees how far 1.5 miles is and says, "I'm done, rescue me."

Having said that, if you can swim a mile in under 35-minutes, or two minutes per hundred and you are not a novice to open water swimming; (at least three under your belt), I recommend you swim an Alcatraz open water swim. This is the one I will be doing next year with my SCAQ friend Anthony. It's quite a rush!: [Link]

Today is voting day and in San Francisco local swimmers and triathletes have a choice: "Global Peace Center" or "Alcatraz"

So which will it be San Francisco: The Escape From Alcatraz Triathlon, or the Escape From the Global Peace Center Triathlon? Then there is the Alcatraz Sharfest Swim or the Global Peace Center Shrakfest Swim? Finally there is my favorite: Swim or Die, the Global Peace Center Challenge!

Proposition 'C' is a San Francisco ballot initiative that would allow the people of San Francisco to buy Alcatraz Island from the federal government and perhaps build a "Global Peace Center" in it's place. Here a USA Today article about it: [Link]

This is how we legislate in California; by initiative. Our legislative branch is so deadlocked and so frightened to make a decision that they or even our Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, put up ballot initiatives to bypass the process. The rest of the US is not this progressive or extreme; depending on your point of view, and consequently California leans more towards democracy rather than a republic style of government. I for one like it this way and subsequently we are the best state in the country! :-P